


OK, who had natural disasters on their 2020 Bingo card?

by NYWCgirl



Series: Whumptober 2020 [27]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Avalanches, Extreme Weather, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:14:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27224812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl
Summary: After a successful bomb disposal, Mac and Jack enjoy a ski trip back to the village.
Series: Whumptober 2020 [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946980
Kudos: 25
Collections: Hurt/Comfort Bingo - Round 11, Whumptober 2020





	OK, who had natural disasters on their 2020 Bingo card?

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I had it on my bingo card, so it fills the ‘destruction/natural disaster’s square on my H/C Bingo card.
> 
> I only once witnessed a snow avalanche in my live (and we go skiing every year), at the Eiger in Switzerland and I must admit, it was the most haunting sound I have ever heard.

‘Man, it is cold out here.’

‘You heard the men in the cabin Jack, this is the coldest winter they had in the last twenty years. They haven´t had so much snow in ages.’

‘Yeah, so why is this the time we are out here freezing our butts off.’

‘Tell that to Edmund, he decided to put that bomb in the ski elevator. We need to disarm it.’

‘Can the local bomb squad not do it?’

‘That will take too long, local law enforcement doesn´t have specialists. We’re their safest bet. The rescue helicopter drops us off at the mountain station, we disarm it and ski back down.’

‘I’m sorry, it just sounds too easy and too good to be true.’

‘Can we for once have a nice easy job Jack? Don’t jinx it.’

‘The only positive thing is that the weather is clearing up and it stopped snowing.’

‘See, a silver lining.’

Mac finishes packing his backpack, putting on his hat, gloves and buff, before taking his skis and walking outside. Jack right behind him. They make their way to the helicopter and once they are seated, they take off. It is a bumpy ride as the weather is not completely cleared but the skilled flight crew has them at the mountain station in no time.

Getting out reminds Mac for a moment of the sandbox until the biting cold reminds him he isn´t there anymore. They stayed crouched down until the helicopter is high enough, quickly making their way into the station.

Since the power is out, it is cold inside but they will have to power through that. Turning on their flash lights they go in search for the bomb. It doesn´t take them long to find, tucked away in the engine room. Mac takes off his gloves and gets to work. The bomb is rudely made and it doesn´t take Mac too long to disarm. He stuffs the essential parts into his backpack, leaving the rest for local law enforcement.

‘Ready?’

‘Yeah, ready. Let’s enjoy that ski trip.’

‘It is something you enjoy more than I, but it will be fun. It’s been a while.’

Once outside, they click on their skies and Mac is the first to let himself slide of the slope. Now that he is picking up speed, he remembers how much he missed skiing. He should make more time to go on a short ski. He stops for a moment to check on Jack. Jack isn´t a skilled skier as he is, having to learn as an adult, but he is holding his own. Mac smiles and takes off again, enjoying the speed and freedom.

The moment he hears the rumble , he immediately recognizes it for what it is, an avalanche. He looks behind him but he can´t see Jack. He tries to ski to the side, towards the tree line. But then the avalanche catches up with him and it feels like he is knocked of his feet by a giant. He can´t breathe.

When he finally comes to a stop, he is face down, but he can breathe again, so there is that. However it feels like breathing through a thick cloth. He needs to get out, but he is trapped, he can’t move his limbs at all. For a moment he thinks he is paralyzed, but when he managed to calm down and take stock of his body, he can wiggle his toes and fingers, he is just packed in the snow.

He startles when his phone goes off, but he can’t reach it. He is completely encased in the snow except his head, for which he should be graceful.

His phone keeps going but he is getting colder and colder and the oxygen is depleting. He knows hypothermia set in and when he realizes he isn’t cold anymore, some part of his brain tells him that is not a good thing, but he can’t bring up the strength to care.

* * *

The moment Jack stops at the lookout point Mac was waiting for him, Mac smiles at him and takes off again, showing off his skills. Jack waits for a moment, totally not to catch his breath, but to marvel at Mac’s skiing technique.

At first Jack doesn´t recognize it for what it is, it seems the snow behind Mac is displacing because of Mac skiing over it. And it probably is, until he hears the growling rumble… an avalanche.

Everything in him tells him to try and get to Mac, but he knows he will never be able to get to Mac in time. He needs to try and see where Mac is in the avalanche so he can get to him faster afterwards. He is already on the phone with rescue services. He can see Mac looking backwards before the avalanche swallows him. Mac tries to ski to the side, so once the avalanche comes to a stop, Jack does his best to get to him as quick as possible to where he last saw Mac. He calls Mac’s phone but it doesn´t get answered, not that he expected that, but he also can’t hear it through the snow which means Mac is buried deeper that he expected. He also checks the locator app on his phone, but it doesn´t give him an exact location.

He calls again, this time laying down on the snow and he faintly hears something when it is swept away by the sound of a helicopter. Mac was wearing a recco so they can locate him but he starts digging anyway. They can’t afford to lose time. When he is about a yard deep, he doubts his decision, so he calls again. This time he can hear the phone even over the sound of the helicopter, so he keeps digging. When he hits something, he carefully starts to pull away snow until he finds a helmet, Mac’s helmet. He is face down, which can’t be good.

‘Mac? Can you hear me?’

When there isn´t a response, his heart sinks, this can’t be happening. When he hears people shouting, he gets up, waving them over. The first rescuer arrives. The man quickly unpacks an oxygen mask and puts it over Mac’s nose and mouth. Jack can see how the mask fogs up, so Mac is breathing. Other people start digging and after a couple of minutes Mac starts awake.

‘Easy kid, we’ve got you.’

‘Jack?’ Mac’s voice sounds muffled by the mask.

‘Jack! I can’t move!’ he calls out in panic.

‘Easy Mac, that is because there is a mountain of snow on top of you, we are digging you out as we speak. How are you feeling?’

‘Tired.’

‘That’s OK, but try to stay awake.’

It takes the rescuers more than twenty minutes to dig Mac out. Once they are able to, they put him on a stretcher and carry him to the helicopter. Jack jumps in the helicopter as well and grabs Mac’s hand although he is mostly out of it.

Once they arrive in the hospital, Mac is stripped of his wet and cold clothes and a bair hugger is placed over him. IV’s are started to make sure Mac’s organs can take the shock of being re-heated. The kid is in and out, not really unconscious but also not completely with them. He will opens his eyes, respond in mono syllable answers and fall asleep again.

It isn´t until a couple of hours later that Mac manages to stay awake longer and the doctors are happy to predict he will be alright. Once Mac is settled in a room, Jack can relax. Mac is fast asleep but Jack knows that is because the hypothermia took a lot out of him.

Mac was lucky, scrapes and bruises and a twisted knee, but nothing that won’t heal on itself. When the kid stirs, Jack sits up.

‘Mac?’

‘Jack?’ he croaks back.

‘Yeah kid, you gave me some more grey hairs, kid.’

‘Was it an avalanche?’

‘Yeah, it was. Man, it was the first time I saw one of those motherfuckers. And I must say, impressive.’

‘Are you alright?’

Jack rolls his eyes, ‘look at me, kid. I’m not the one in the hospital bed, alright?’

Mac gives him a tired smile.

‘How did you manage not to get caught up in it?

‘To be honest, I was still catching my breath on that look out point.’

Now Mac gives him a bigger sleepy smile.

‘So, what is the verdict?’

‘Hypothermia, it took us some time to dig you out. Busted knee, the doctors think your ski binding wasn’t adjusted correct and it didn´t open on time, but they expect it to heal on itself. Scrapes, bruises, the usual when you are spit out by an avalanche.’

Mac yawns.

‘Oh yeah, and you will be tired and cold for a while, it has to do with the hypothermia or so I was told by the doctors.’

‘Hmm, I think I will go to sleep now.’

‘You do that, kid.’


End file.
